Ex-Morristown Resident Wanted for Decapitation Says Police Have Wrong Man

A man arrested in Morris County last week is wanted for the murder and decapitation of a Chicago man, according to NJ.com, citing a Chicago Sun-Times piece.  But there is a twist, according to the Daily Record: The man facing charges, Milton J. Miranda-Portillo, is reportedly a former Morristown resident who claims the police have the wrong man.

According to the Daily Record, Miranda-Portillo was arrested in Denville over the weekend for alleged illegal impersonation of another person. He was charged under the name Wilton Silvera, the same name he was charged under last spring when he was nabbed in Morristown on domestic violence charges stemming from an alleged incident with a person identified in court records as D.G.

Miranda-Portillo appeared in Morris County Superior Court Tuesday, when his attorney, Public Defender Elizabeth Martin, stated her client's assertion that he is not the man who reportedly murdered, decapitated and dismembered Chicago construction worker Jose Reyes in May for having a romantic interest in his girlfriend, 19-year-old Daisy Gutierrez.

The woman is also facing charges in Reyes' murder, as is her father. The Record said no court statements indicated that Gutierrez was the D.G. from the domestic violence case, but Assistant Prosecutor Julie Serfess told the judge that D.G. was not from New Jersey.

Judge Robert Gilson said an extradition hearing is scheduled for Friday at 1:30 p.m. if Illinois officials obtain a a governor’s warrant commanding Miranda-Portillo to be extradited, that hearing could be postponed, the article continued.